In The Deep
by Luca-Pacheco
Summary: An unexpected Birthday gift for one Abigail Sciuto... Gibbs/Abby, rated T just to be safe. Chapter 6 is up! R&R Please!
1. Chapter 1

**In The Deep**

**Pairing: **Gibbs/Abby (a.k.a. Gabby)

**Rating: **T

**Spoilers: **None

**Disclaimer: **Neither NCIS nor the characters belong to me. I wish it did, but it doesn't.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Chapter One: **_**Appearances Are Deceiving**_

"Excuse me, I'm looking for one... Abigail Sciuto?"

"That's me! That's me! Don't call me 'Abigail' ever again, though. I'm Abby."

The janitor eyed her warily. "...Oh. This package must be for you, then," he replied. They told him upstairs that Abigail - or Abby – was the 'forensic scientist downstairs'. Not that he had much of an idea of what a forensics scientist's job was (he failed chemistry and physics miserably in high school), but he expected to find someone more... serious, perhaps more mature, not the spitting image of what his 12 year-old daughter was going to become 5 years from now.

"Appeareances are deceiving. I mean, I'm used to people looking at me like I'm weird and stuff but well, even us weirdos have to work for a living, y'know?"

"Oh, I'm sorry if I offended you! It's just that I'm so new here… I'm from a very small town, not used to the Big City stuff. I'm unsophisticated." He had a polite smile that she couldn't see, and an apologetic tone that she did pick up on.

"Don't worry, it's OK. Could you leave the package there, please? I'm here, a little busy with my computer," Abby responded, taking just a fraction of a second to look at him with her 'nothing I can do' face.

"Ok, then... Happy Birthday, Abby. From one... Hollis Mann". '_Hollis Mann? That's hinky as hinky can get,'_ she thought. "That's weird," she couldn't help scaping from her mouth.

"Sure it is!" Answered the guy, "Hollis Mann. Ho-llis Maaaann. Sounds like something you would say after hitting your pinky toe against a table." Abby chuckled for a moment, her eyes never leaving the screen. "Anyway," he continued, "I can open the box if you want."

"That'd be a good idea, yeah"

"Well, here's a bouquet of... black roses?"

"They're my favourite. Everybody gives me one of those," She motioned to the fridge. "That's the safest bet for people who don't know me that well (like Hollis, for example) and for people who know me very, very well too!"

"Yeah! I'm sure it is!, I'm sure it is. There's also this thing, it looks like a collectible item. Looks like one hell of an expensive gift..."

"Hhhmmm?... That's pretty strange, she and I were never _that_ close, if you know what I mean. I have nothing against her, is just that well, we didn't start with the right foot – AAAAAAAHHHH"

Her hyper rambling was cut short. The janitor stabbed her left hand while it was palms up, so a very loud scream replaced it. It was soo loud, the entire building heard it, even over the music that was playing at the moment. Fighting the pain, she turned around and somehow managed to kick him where it prevented him from giving siblings to his daughter.

"Abby!" She heard Gibbs yell, but the pain made it all fuzzy, and the tears in her eyes didn't let her see clearly either. "Tony! Take Abby with Ducky and call an ambulance, now!" he said, while grabbing and cuffing the assaultant with McGee's help. Then, both of them took the janitor to the interrogation room.

Once they got there, McGee was surprised to see his boss taking the janitor to the other side of the room. "Boss?" He said, trying to correct Gibbs, just to find him staring at coldly at him. "Don't you have _work _to do, McGee?" Gibbs asked.

"On it, Boss," he replied, catching his drift, and started walking towards the bullpen, grateful that –at least for now- he wasn't the subject of his boss' rage regarding Abby. "Come back in 15 minutes," was the last thing he heard.

Gibbs opened the door, covered the security camera with his jacket and entered with the attacker without turning on the lights. Once inside, he proceeded to toss down the guy and kick him in every place of his body covered by his clothes.

"WHY DID YOU DO IT?" Gibbs demanded, running out of patience even though he had just started with the 'unofficial interrogation'.

"Ouch!" The janitor didn't say anything else. Another round of kicks followed.

"I was… hired," the handcuffed man finally blurted out.

"To kill her…?"

"Yeah, exactly"

"So you figured 'Why not? What's a girl's life if I can make a few bucks', huh? It's funny, the hitman's train of thought" – Another round of kicks.

"I'm not a hitman! I'm a janitor. And they didn't pay me just a few bucks. I have a family!"

"So does her!" Said Gibbs furiously, grabbing the man by the collar. "Who hired you?"

"Does it matter?"

"Of course it does! Whoever hired you will try to go after her again!"

"So you want me to become a snitch? I can do that," the janitor said a little too calmly for a guy who was being beaten the crap out of, "again, I have a family, and there's still part of the payment pending".

"They won't pay you. In fact, I'd be surprised if they didn't go after you as well."

"Bullshit. Why would they do that?"

"Because you failed, Mr. Janitor…" Gibbs could barely finish his sentence when he felt, more than he saw, a grin forming in the man's face. "Yeah, keep thinking that," he said smugly. Gibbs kicked him once more in frustration before getting him out, and into the right side of the interrogation room. He sat the janitor down on a chair and left to go to the hospital, where Abby and Ducky were.

He entered into the hospital room where Abby was. The doctors had decided to keep her in observation for a little while since she had lost a non-fatal, but considerable amount of blood. She was sitting on the edge of the bed and hadn't seen him yet. Gibbs smiled a little: He liked it when he could sneak up on her.

"Hi, Abbs!"

"Hi, Gibbs! You scared me…" She was somewhat surprised to see him there so soon, she thought he had work to do. He was moving closer to Abby, ready to hug her and kiss her in the cheek, but she backed off quickly. "Don't touch me!" She exclaimed.

Gibbs stopped dead in his tracks. He didn't expect that at all. "What's wrong, Abby? Did something happen that I don't know about yet?" He asked, concerned. However, not a single word came out of her mouth. She just looked at him with an unreadable expression.

It wasn't until that moment that he really noticed her appearance: She was barefoot, dressed in a hospital robe, her hair lose without her usual pigtails or make-up on. He had never seen her without make-up, and the sight was as lovely as it was scary. Fresh faced she looked beautiful in a way he had never seen before, and even younger than usual. But at the same time, she looked more mature and world-weary, and he expected to discover a healthier, even happier Abby. Instead, he had to see the real paleness of her skin, as well as the dark circles around her bright green eyes, their sparkle being the only sign of the girl he had always known.

A nursed entered into the room. "Sir, could you please go outside and wait while I change her bandages?"

Gibbs turned his head and glared at her. "Is there a problem if I stay here?"

"Look sir, no one but the patient and medical staff is supposed to be here in the first place, but since you managed to get here, at least wait outside for five minutes."

"But, why- ?" Before Gibbs could finish, he was cut off by a familiar voice.

"Jethro! I didn't expect to se you so soon! Come with me, let's go and eat something," said Ducky, ushering him outside.

As soon as they crossed the door, Gibbs stopped Ducky. "Wha - what's going on?" He asked, whispering so neither Abby nor the nurse could hear the conversation. "Did something happen that I don't know about yet? Did he stab her somewhere else besides her hand?"

"Calm down and take a deep breath. No, it was just her hand."

"Then why am I being kicked out of her room?"

"Because the situation is a lot more delicate than that"

"More delicate? But you just said it was only a hand injury!"

"And that's the truth! I would never lie to you about anything like this. The thing is…"

"_To the point_, Ducky"

"… That's my point, Jethro." He replied, sounding defeated. "Both the knife and the man who attacked Abigail with it are HIV positive."

A long silence followed. Gibbs' couldn't say anything else since his lips started trembling and his eyed started watering, he was only capable of looking at Abby through the window. She was staring of into space with her arm extended, while the gloved, fully covered nurse cleaned her wound and changed her bandages.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two: **_**What Does Your Gut Tell You?**_

**A/N: **Thanks a lot to Chirugal for being my Beta!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Who knows about this?" Gibbs asked, once he regained some composure.

"Besides us? Just the Director – and Abby, of course," Ducky replied.

"No one else needs to know. Not even Palmer. This must be kept a secret."

Ducky nodded in agreement. "However," he added, "wouldn't that be exposing the team to the virus?"

"No, it wouldn't. They know better than to touch evidence or go to a crime scene without their gloves on, and that's what Abby's lab is right now," answered Gibbs, then wondered, his voice threatening to break, "…Is there a chance that Abby can get out of this without infection?"

The two men looked at each other. "She will have to wait for three months before taking the test. Until then, we won't know. But Jethro, don't get your hopes up." Ducky warned, seeing Gibbs pleading with his eyes, willing to hang on to even the smallest thread of hope his old friend could offer. "Keep in mind that the knife remained stabbed in her hand until she got here, and that's quite a long time." Gibbs looked down; he understood.

Right then his cell phone rang. "Gibbs?"

"Hey Boss, it's me, Tony. How's Abby doing?"

"She's… under observation right now. No visitors allowed, except for Ducky and me. You got something for me?"

"The janitor didn't wanna talk. Not even Ziva could force a word out of his mouth. We took his prints and we're running them through AFIS, but no luck as of now. According to his employer, his name is James Turner, but the address he gave us turned out to be false, so it wouldn't be strange if his name was false as well."

"The guy was hired. His real name is Jules Greenberg."

"How do you know that?"

"I just… do." _'Ducky told me they found him on a hospital database where's he's been treated for AIDS' _was definitely not something he would tell Tony_. _"Do a full background check on him. Also look for everyone who may have a grudge against Abby; both personally and professionally. Look in her contacts list; all the cases she has testified in court for; check if Mawher's still in jail; check everywhere you can think of, understood?"

"But Boss, she has a lot of friends and acquaintances, and she has testified in too many cases, it would take forever to…"

"DiNozzo!"

"…So of course we'll start looking right now. But there's one more thing."

"What is it?"

"The knife came with a bouquet of black roses in gift wrap. The card says: '_Happy Birthday, Abigail Sciuto. From Hollis Mann_.'" Tony gulped, sensing that all hell was about to break loose.

"I see," Gibbs sighed heavily. "But as far as I know, she's in Hawaii…"

"That's not an obstacle to hiring a hitman, as long as she has the money. Besides, she came back to D.C. two months ago, same address as before she moved out."

"…And you were planning to tell me when?"

"Actually, I was…"

"Check all her financial transactions, her phone calls, see if she has made or tried to make contact with Abby or the janitor, or if she has made any suspicious movements at all." And with that, he hung up.

--- ooo ---

The doorbell rang, and Hollis opened the door, a surprised smile crossing her face. "Jethro! How nice to see you again! Come on in," she told him, stepping back to let him inside. "How did you know I was back here?"

"Word gets around," replied Gibbs, getting comfortable on the couch. "We need to talk."

Hollis sat down as well. "About us?"

"There's not an 'us' to begin with," he shot back dryly.

"Believe me, I've known that all along," she said, looking a little melancholy, "ever since we supposedly got together. I've always been an independent person with an agenda of my own, so I never minded your long work schedule or your fixation with boats. '_It comes with the territory_,' I kept telling myself, so I kept trying to make you mine, to make 'us' possible. But when I saw you in the lab and when I heard that tape, it just confirmed my suspicions. Your heart has always been somewhere else. I know that. I can't replace Shannon, I can't replace Kelly." She rubbed her abdomen. "I certainly can't replace Miss Sciuto," she finished, giving him a pointed look.

He winced internally, but kept his cold exterior. "She's the reason I came here to talk."

"Oh, imagine that…" she snarked.

"Are you angry at her? Is there any reason for you to have anything against her?"

"I'm getting the feeling that this is not a social visit."

"That's very clever of you."

"Did you hear what I've just said? Of course I'm angry at her! Or frustrated… I don't know anymore."

"Frustrated enough to hurt her?"

"Oh, come on! I don't like her. There it is; you know it. But from that to doing something to hurt her, there's a long way."

"Somebody attacked her with a weapon that came in a gift box with your name on it. What does that mean?"

"What does your gut tell you?"

"It tells me she doesn't deserve any of this. It tells me I have to find whoever did this to her and make them pay."

"Well, in that case, if it's all as you say it is, I have some useful information for you: I didn't do anything. Someone must be trying to frame me, either to damage me or to throw you off. You have to look elsewhere, you're barking up the wrong tree."

"I really, really hope so," Gibbs replied and went towards the door. When he opened to leave, Hollis spoke again:

"Jethro…"

"Yes?"

"Be careful. If you want to let your world revolve around Miss Sciuto, there's a big chance you won't be able to go on with your life; you won't even be able to date successfully anymore."

He gave her one last look: it cut the atmosphere like a knife. "Then I guess I'll just have to stop dating," he replied, then closed the door and left.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three: **_**You're Not Like This. You Trust People.**_

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, Tony and Ziva were at Zuiker Janitorial Services, talking to the manager of the rather small company.

"Good morning, here we are again. We hope we're not bothering you much."

"No problem! We've been working together for years; it's always a pleasure to do business with you."

"I'm afraid that 'pleasure' is about to end," replied Ziva.

"How so?"

"Remember your employee?" Tony inquired. "The one who attacked one of our people with a knife? Turns out his name isn't James Turner, but Jules Greenberg. Didn't you, you know, check his identity before you hired him?"

"Or did you have anything to do with the incident?"

"Me? No, never! I'd never bite the hand that feeds me!"

"But you would let anyone who feels like it do it…"

"It's not like that! Look, I'm sorry. I know it was my fault that I didn't check him out, but I had no bad intentions at all. I just hired him because a friend of mine asked me very specifically to do so, and I owed him a favour. I never thought I was doing anything wrong, I just thought I was making it even with my friend, and helping out someone in need in the process."

"And does that 'friend' have a name, or an address?"

"Are you gonna accuse him of something?"

"Would you prefer we accuse you instead?"

"OK. His name is Gregory Bellman, and this is his address," the manager said, giving Tony a piece of paper. "I hope this little misunderstanding doesn't put an end to our business relationship," he added, smiling nervously. Tony and Ziva just looked at each other.

"Consider yourself lucky if you don't end up in jail," Tony replied, and the two agents left.

"It's incredible." Ziva muttered once they were inside the car. "So many controls and secret passwords for someone to get inside the headquarters, and we let in anyone with a janitor uniform and a mop."

--- ooo ---

At the hospital, Abby was bored and tired. She had tried to sleep the night before, but to no avail. There was nothing worse for her than having nothing to do except wait, especially when her life was hanging from a thread. Ducky had just arrived, and she already felt uncomfortable. As rare as it was, she didn't know what to say at that moment, so the first ten minutes were spent in silence, until the doctor decided to start the conversation.

"You look like you really need to rest, Abby."

"I do."

"Did you sleep at all last night, by any chance?"

"I tried, but I couldn't. Without my caffeine fix I tend to get uneasy."

"We both know that's not the problem," Ducky said. Abby just nodded in agreement. "You've been so quiet and stoic since the attack… you look more and more like Ziva with each passing second. You're not like this. You trust people. You're open with your feelings…"

"And look where that took me. I had a great childhood," she added. "Sure, I went through stuff like everybody, but nothing traumatic. It's easy to be open and trusting when your life has been relatively easy."

"Don't let any of this kill your spirit. Don't stop being the happy, open girl we all know and love."

"I'll go back to normal, I guess, but it will take time. It's still three months before I take the test… it's too long."

"Yeah, it is." Ducky agreed. "Gibbs cares about you a lot."

"I know," Abby replied, and smiled sadly.

"You'll see. He will never leave you alone, and once you get back to your job, time will pass a lot faster."

"My job… That, that's another issue entirely…"

--- ooo ---

"I say we should go to the hospital and visit Abby."

"Gibbs said no one was allowed but him and Ducky, McNurse."

"I don't understand! We are her friends, she could use our support. Even when Gibbs lost his memory, he could receive visits."

"That's because Director Sheppard used her influences back then," Ziva interjected on the other side of the line, "but we don't have that now. I seriously doubt Vance would help us with this, and wait a minute… since when are we the ones who have to convince _you_ to just trust Gibbs and follow the rules?"

"What rules? Do we really know if the hospital doesn't allow visitors? How come she's still there, for starters? How do we know it's not just something Gibbs said to keep us out of the loop?"

"You don't," replied Gibbs, who was standing behind him. "You'll have to trust me. You got anything on Hollis or the janitor?"

McGee was dying from the embarrassment, but said goodbye to his colleagues, hung up the phone and went straight to business. "Jules Greenberg is from Manassas Park, VA and lived there with his family until a month ago, when they moved to D.C. No unusual movements on his bank account, but on his wife's there was a large sum of money deposited last month, and an equal amount this morning. The owner of the janitorial company he worked for, Herbert Zuiker, said he hired him a month ago because a friend of his called Gregory Bellman asked him to do it as a favour."

"I guess he didn't do it out of charity or a sense of humanity."

"I don't know his motives yet, but he drew out of his bank account the same sum that was deposited on Greenberg's wife's one. Tony and Ziva are bringing him in right now. I'd say that's our guy."

Gibbs was going to say something, but their conversation was interrupted by Vance, who was wearing a somber face.

"Gibbs, come to my office. We need to talk." His voice didn't sound mad, but it did sound serious. Definitely not like it would be good news.

McGee watched his boss leave, and as soon as he went to resume his work, the elevator door opened.

"Tony, Ziva! I knew you were supposed to bring Bellman, but who's the woman with you? Is she a person of interest I didn't know about?"

"Actually, we met her at the entrance. She said she needed to talk to someone in the bullpen."

He looked at the woman: she was blond and pretty, but her features revealed the tough life she had to live. She was sobbing, so her voice didn't come out easily when she spoke. Nonetheless, he could understand her perfectly:

"Hello, my name is Anne Greenberg. I'm looking for my husband."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four: **_**Say What?**_

* * *

"Mrs. Greenberg, why don't you sit here? Mr. Bellman, we'll take you to the interview room," Ziva said, and left. Tony stayed behind and when she questioned him with her eyes, he signalled her to go ahead, that he'd join her in a couple of minutes.

"Have you seen Gibbs, McGee? I'm sure he'd want to conduct the interview."

"The director called him, he's in his office. Neither of them seemed to be happy. See? I told you, they must be hiding something."

"Do you think? I mean, they always look cranky, that's nothing new…"

"That's right. But Gibbs' hands, they were trembling. Gibbs' hands_ never _tremble!"

"You have a point. But then again, you know how he gets when something happens to Abby. Surely he's just being his usual overprotective self."

"I don't know, I'm not convinced. Do you really believe that?"

"I don't see why not. When you think about it, this is the first time Abby has actually gotten hurt. I bet he's feeling quite impotent right now."

McGee simply raised an eyebrow to the point that it was about to reach his hairline.

"Impotent as in, he wasn't there for her… when she needed him to be… you know, there…"

The raised eyebrow turned into a full-on frown.

"Come on, Probie, you know what I mean!"

"Ooookay… Anyway, you guys should conduct the interview. I honestly don't see Gibbs leaving that office anytime soon, and he's demanding as many results as possible, as soon as possible."

"Good luck with the lady, then – hope she doesn't turn out to be as impulsive as her husband," Tony said as he left for the interview room.

--oo—

In the Director's office, Vance made Gibbs take a seat and went right to business. It was an uncomfortable issue, so the sooner they could get it (relatively) over with, the better.

"I called you here to talk about Miss Sciuto."

"I know that. I'll make her take two weeks, maybe one month off after she's discharged from the hospital."

"I don't think you understand me. She'll be on medical leave until she takes the HIV test."

"You can't do that…"

"And once she does, depending on the results, we'll decide what course of action to take."

"_Course of action_? As in, there's the possibility of _firing_ her?"

"There's the possibility or an early retirement."

"That's insane! She's decades away from being old enough for retirement, and she's the best lab tech we can get… ever! The lab is her life; we are her family!"

"I'm sure you are. Look, it's no fun for me to consider letting go of someone like her, either."

"But you're doing it."

"To protect her, not out of discrimination! If she turns out to have HIV and develops AIDS, she'll be especially vulnerable to any kind of biological hazard, and that's a risk none of us can afford to take. This is very hard for all of us, but those are the rules, and they're there for a reason."

"Is there a way we could work around this?" Gibbs asked, with impotence and defeat in his voice.

"Unless the tests turn out negative, we can't. As much as we both wish to."

-oo-

In the interrogation room, Tony took his turn interviewing Bellman while Ziva watched on the other side. As much as they all wanted everyone involved in Abby's incident to suffer, they also knew they needed to get the information to solve the case and, to be fair, they couldn't afford collateral damage: that may well be the reason Abby was attacked in the first place.

"Gregory Bellman, 51 years old, owner of Bellman Industries Inc., which makes –"

"I know who I am and what I do for a living. Can we stop the nonsense and cut to the chase?"

"OK, let's cut to the chase. We know you are friends with a man called Job Zuiker, and you asked him to hire another man, James Turner, as a favour to you."

"As far as I know, that's not a crime."

"Except that his real name is Jules Greenberg, he came here with the instruction of attacking and killing one of our people, and he got one out of the two right! That makes you his accomplice at best, even if we can't prove you were the one who ordered the attack!"

"What? No, no, no! I have nothing to do with that! I have no idea of what you're saying. Look, Zuiker owed me a favour, but I owed a favour to someone as well. That's why I asked him to hire Turner. I mean, Greenberg."

"And who, exactly, was the person you owed that favour to?"

"This woman, Hollis Mann."

"Say what?" Tony said and looked to the one-way mirror. He couldn't see her, but he knew Ziva was thinking the same as he was. On the other side, she understood him perfectly.

"Hollis Mann. She's a retired Lieutenant Colonel from the Army. We're long-time friends, and she knew I'm friends with Job and he owed me, so she collected by asking me to help this guy get hired by Job's company. She told me this sob story about him being poor and having a family to support, so I made the contacts."

"Just like that, no questions asked?"

"Of course! It was only a janitorial job. Besides, she's my friend. I've always trusted her and I still do, and as I said before, I owed her a favour."

"Just out of curiosity," Tony inquired, "what was that great favour she did for you?"

"She... she introduced me to the woman who's now my wife."

Tony just sighed and left the room. As he was about to close the door, he heard Bellman's voice:

"Am I free to go now?"

"You wish," the agent replied. "You're still under arrest, until this gets cleared up."

Ziva met him in the hallway.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" she asked, knowing the answer beforehand.

"Yep, I am."

"Gibbs is not going to like it."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five: **_**I Didn't Mean It, I Swear!**_

* * *

"Mrs Greenberg, take a seat."

"Thank you very much."

McGee saw the woman, and felt it was going to be hard to tell her the situation. Her face made it obvious that she was a good person, worried that something terrible had happened.

"Please tell me, why are you looking for your husband here?"

"He works here, he's a janitor. I know they aren't the most noticed people here – they're not agents or anything – but I was hoping someone could tell me the last time they saw him. He said goodbye to me in the morning to come here a couple of days ago, and I haven't seen him, or heard anything about him ever since. Do you… do you know anything about him? Do you know where he might be now?"

"Yes, I do," McGee replied. "That morning there was an incident here..."

"An incident? What does that mean? Did something happen to him? Is he dead?"

"No, no, no, he's not dead or injured. He attacked and injured one of our people with a knife. When he was interrogated he claimed to have been hired to kill that person, so now he's under arrest and he's going to be transferred to the state prison. He was allowed to call his lawyer – which he refused to do – and to call his family if he needed to, so I don't know why he hasn't contacted you yet."

"No! That can't be true!"

"I know it must be hard for you; I understand, but that's what happened."

"It can't be true!" the lady insisted, sobbing. "He's a good man. He's all about me and our daughter. Since that blood transfusion, our lives have gone to hell. He couldn't get a job anywhere, until we met Mr. Bellman at the hospital and he helped him get this job! We were so happy that someone was willing to hire him despite his AIDS! He just wanted an honest job to help support us! Now how's he gonna get treated in prison? He can die if he doesn't have his medicines and his treatment!"

"Your husband has AIDS?" McGee uttered in disbelief. He was starting to put two and two together, and he certainly didn't like the result.

-oo-

"You got anything, McGee?"

"Yes, Boss," the younger agent replied. "Greenberg received two payments of $100,000: One before and one after the attack. Both payments came from Bellman's account. But before those transactions, $50,000 were transferred from Hollis Mann's account to Bellman's.

"Will you conduct the interview?" McGee asked.

"And you're asking me because...?"

"Well, it's just that... It's that your history with Colonel Mann would make the interview and evidence from now on tainted in the eyes of a jury, in the case of a trial against her or any other suspect."

Gibbs just looked at him intently.

"...Not that it has ever stopped you before, but..."

"You guys will handle the case, I'll just watch."

"Wow... just like that?" McGee asked. It was weird for his boss to be so compliant.

"Yeah. I don't want to screw up this case," he responded sincerely.

"Boss, Greenberg's wife came here asking for him," McGee informed Gibbs. "Abby's not fine, is she?"

"No, she's not."

You could cut the atmosphere there with a knife. There was something implied, unsaid between them regarding Abby, in more ways than one. It was the gravity and hopelessness of the situation, but it also was the implied rivalry between them, the desire each one had of being the one to claim her as his, which prevented them from having a relationship as close as the ones they had with the rest of the team.

"You're the one who will take care of her, I guess."

"Yes, I am," Gibbs responded, in a possessive tone of voice.

After another few seconds of uncomfortable silence, McGee spoke again. "Why don't you sit down while we wait for Tony and Ziva to bring in Colonel Mann, Boss?"

"I'm fine standing here."

"I understand," the agent quipped, in a somewhat bitter voice. "Now it's _you_ who doesn't deserve a chair."

Gibbs didn't argue.

-oo-

Tony and Ziva arrived with Hollis, and McGee took her to Bellman's interrogation room while Gibbs briefed them on the recently found information. Then they went to the interrogation room, where Gibbs entered on the other side since he was only going to watch, without letting himself be seen.

Tony and Ziva entered the room and McGee left to join Gibbs on the other side.

"Hello," Tony greeted the suspects. "I hope you feel comfortable here. Have we offered you anything to drink? No? Yeah, I didn't think so. We don't usually put suspects together but in your case, we'll make an exception. You know, since you're such close friends. Our forensic scientist, Abigail Sciuto, was attacked by a man named Jules Greenberg, who claimed to having been hired to kill her. He didn't say who, but we followed the money, and the money led us to you. Colonel Mann: Why did $50,000 of your money appear in Bellman's account? And why did you, Mr. Bellman, give $100,000 to Greenberg?"

"You won't hear a word from us," said Bellman.

"No comment," were Hollis' words.

"Don't worry, we have all night. Right, Ziva?"

"Yes, we do," she said in agreement. They both pulled chairs and sat down, with no intent of leaving the room – or releasing the two suspects – anytime soon.

"You're bluffing. You have nothing!" Bellman yelled. "They have nothing on us, do they, Hollis?"

"I have no comment," was Hollis' response, again.

"We already have you both for attempted murder," Ziva interjected casually. "We also know Abigail Sciuto was going to testify against you in the hearing of that civil suit of yours. Her testimony about your failed military equipment would make you lose a lot of money, perhaps condemn your company to bankruptcy, if I'm not wrong. That's called motive, Mr. Bellman, even if you said you only did that to do Colonel Mann a favour..."

"He hasn't done any favours for me!"

"I didn't say that!" Bellman protested.

"We have the tape. We can play it if you need to refresh your memory. That statement, along with the evidence we have, is enough to charge Col. Mann. Maybe they'll find her to be the sole perpetrator. My only question is, why did you pay him the other half even when he didn't succeed?"

"IT WASN'T LIKE THAT!" Hollis yelled all of a sudden. She was in tears, evidently unravelling herself. "He, he was the one who wanted to kill her!" she exclaimed, pointing at Bellman. "He was the one who needed to put her away, she was going to destroy everything he has!"

"What are you saying? You wanted her out as much as I did! You were the one who said she was the one obstacle between you and Jethro! You said you needed her out of the way so you could get back together, at any price!"

"I thought the money was to bribe her into going away, or getting her a job offer she couldn't refuse!"

"Are you that naive? Do you really think I hadn't already tried it with her? Do you think I succeeded? If I had succeeded, or if you hadn't asked me to help you get rid of her, we wouldn't be here right now!"

"I referred to something like framing her for a crime, not infecting her with HIV! You didn't tell me you were gonna infect her!"

Tony and Ziva were disgusted and shocked. That definitely wasn't the confession they were expecting to hear. This could not be happening, let alone to their friend Abby. They looked at the mirror, searching for Gibbs' face, even though they knew they wouldn't be able to see it.

"I told you, and when you found out you did nothing to stop it! You want her dead as much as I do!"

"No, I don't! Dead she'd become another Shannon!" Hollis cried desperately. "She was of no use to me dead! Jethro must be here, I'm sure he's behind the mirror! I didn't mean it, I swear! You gotta believe me, Jethro! She wasn't good for me dead! Jethro! Jethro...!"

He was looking through the mirror, his blood was boiling furiously. He'd make sure they got no benefits, no deals, no parole, as many charges as he could lay on them, and the maximum sentence for each of them.

Gibbs left the room. He really wanted to just take his gun and bring them both down, but it would be too painless, and he knew better. He needed to be there for someone way more important.

He needed to get Abby out of the hospital.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six: **_**If You Want To Be Given Everything…**_

Gibbs was driving back from the hospital, and Abby had just fallen asleep in the passenger's seat. She had been silently crying, that much was clear. Her tears were already dry, but their tracks were still visible.

Gibbs looked at her sleeping form. He ached to touch her: he wanted to feel her skin, to pull a strand of hair away from her face, to caress her cheek, even to hug her. He could tell she needed that as well, because she was shivering and holding herself in her sleep. He angrily tightened his grip on the steering wheel.

Just a couple of days ago they were in a similar situation, but for way better reasons. He took her out for dinner the night before her birthday, as usual. The memories made him smile nostalgically. He wished he could go back in time and change the circumstances so it could all go the way it was going to, the way it was supposed to.

--- Flashback ---

"_Staying with the nuns again, Abbs?" Gibbs asked while he poured her wine, with a somewhat demanding tone in his voice._

"_My apartment's flooded again. I already know what you're gonna say: 'See? I told you, Abbs!' And you're right, completely right. But this is my birthday. You wouldn't scold me on my birthday, would you?" __s__he answered, looking at him with puppy eyes._

"_I'd never do that. I'm just saying, that apartment's not very safe. You really should move __out of__ it."_

"_Yeah, but it's so hard to find a good place where my coffin fits, and a landlord that doesn't get scared by all my stuff…"_

"_As I've been saying for so long, stay at my place. There's more than enough room for you and all your stuff in my house."_

"_That's not true. You don't have the spare room anymore, remember?"_

"_I do remember. But you can put your stuff in my basement. You'll sleep in my bed and I'll take the couch"._

"_You can't sleep __o__n the couch in your own house, Gibbs!"_

"_Well, you certainly won't sleep on it, it's uncomfortable as hell. We will share the bed."_

"_Wouldn't _that_ be uncomfortable for you, too?"_

"_I'd be comfortable with you sleeping in my arms for the rest of my life if that was the case,__"__ he said__,__ trying to sound cheeky, to hide the sincerity of his statement. "Come on, that way I'll have you trapped to teach you how to work with wood without breaking it first." That statement earned him an annoyed look from Abby. "You can get a dog__.__Y__ou've always wanted to have a dog, haven't you?"_

"_Really? Seriously?" __s__he asked excitedly, "Would you be ok__ay__ with a dog in your house? And a guest for more than a week? Wouldn't it disrupt, you know, your way of life? What if you want to bring a girl __home__?"_

"_I don't need to 'bring a girl home' anytime soon. I mean, other than you. Seriously! Think about it__.__"_

_In that moment, the waiters brought a tiny chocolate cake with the words 'Happy Birthday, Abbs' on it. Gibbs poured wine __into__ his and Abby's glasses and made a toast._

"_For your birthday, so this year is better than the last one."_

"_For the best birthday ever!" __s__he chanted, and he hugged her and kissed her cheek while the glasses clashed together. They were laughing with joy. The future couldn't look brighter for both of them._

-- End of Flashback –

They made it to his house, and Abby woke up. They went inside, Gibbs carrying her bag from the hospital. He had already picked up the rest of her stuff from the convent: There was no way he would let her stay alone at her place or with the nuns (which in many ways would equal staying alone, anyway). She needed someone to watch over her in case she needed anything, or something happened.

He fixed them both dinner and went to work on his new project. She decided to just watch him from the stairs. She had never seen him working on anything other than boats, so to see him building toys was weird and heartwarming at the same time. He definitely had his gentle, soft side. It was just that not everyone had the key to it.

Her cell phone beeped. It was the alarm, letting her know it was time to change her bandages.

"Here, let me help you with that."

"Stay away! I got it, don't worry" she replied defensively, and set to the task.

When she took off the bandages and the gauze, both she and Gibbs found out her wound was still bleeding uncontrollably. Gibbs ran to help her, but she didn't want him near her; let alone near her open, bleeding wound. "Stay away, stay away!" she kept yelling, nervous at the thought of him being exposed to the same virus that would most likely claim her life sooner or later.

"Let me help you there, Abbs! You need help!"

"I got it! I got it, I promise…"

Suddenly, Abby felt something pressing her down. In a matter of seconds, Gibbs had cut his right hand with one of his tools and came down on to her, taking her injured hand in his and not letting go.

"What are you doing?! Are you crazy?!" She looked at their hands clasped together. Abby was mute, she wasn't able to do anything other than look at them in sheer horror. He wasn't an impulsive man, how could he be so reckless?

"We can't be like this anymore! We'll go through this together. If you're good, I'm good. If we're not, well, we'll figure this out and if someday you must leave, I'll leave with you."

Gibbs cupped her face with his hands and covered her in butterfly kisses. "I'm so sorry, my Abbs…" he whispered into her ear, crying, while continuing his trail across her face and her neck. Abby held on to him for dear life.

-oo-

They did sleep in each other's arms from then on, including the night they went to sleep forever. By then, her name had changed to Abigail Gibbs ("She's not my fifth wife," Gibbs told Ducky one day, "she's my second wife. The other three are my exes."), and between them, they had already filled the basement with wooden toys and then given them away more than once.

The whole team knew Gibbs wasn't a fan of honors and Abby didn't like formalities, but they also knew he'd always wanted to sail one of his boats and she wanted to know the world, so they decided to just rent a sailboat on the beach, and keep the ceremony simple.

Whether it was a boat shaped like a coffin or a coffin shaped like a boat, no one knew for sure. But it certainly was a work of art. It was merely 20 inches long, made of the finest cedar wood, extremely soft to the touch and oddly enough, with splashes of color here and there, and little painted gothic figures that without a doubt were Abby's work. It also had a mechanism so you could pull a string and the boat/coffin would go for almost a mile. You could tell this was the work of two people; it was made out of love.

Tony and Ziva opened the bags that contained Gibbs' and Abby's ashes and poured them carefully into the interior part, then put on the cap and locked it. Then, they all wrote little goodbye notes on it's exterior. Tony filled his with movie references and jokes for them, Ducky and Palmer wrote as much as they could, giving them advice and something to think about on their trip, and Ziva, while more contained, still had well wishes and farewells. McGee, on the other side, was more concise. "R.I.P., I'll miss you," was his message for Abby, and to Gibbs he wrote a simple "Well played." Jackson wrote his messages as well, thanking Abby for being such a good daughter in law, and Gibbs for giving them the chance to be a family again.

They were as far from the shore as they could safely get, so they decided to let them go right there. Without any more ceremony or ornamented speeches, McGee put the boat/coffin down in the water, Ziva pulled the string and then it drifted away, sailing the sea, disappearing under the violet colors of sunset.

In the bottom of the boat/coffin there were painted initials: L.J.G. and A.S.G., and a little inscription they'd made themselves:

"_If you want to be given everything, give everything up." _

**The End**

**A/N: This is a shameless plug, but people from Haiti need our help. I'm offering to write 1 fanfic with the prompt you want in exchange for a donation to one of the charities listed in the livejournal community help_haiti. I'm also offering to to record 1 fanfic of your choice (yours, mine or someone else's as long as they give permision to do so), or write and record a song with the prompt you want regarding the fandom in exchange for a donation to one of the charities listed in the community. I have a topic on the forums where you can make the bids for the fanfic, and for the Podfic or song.**

**Thank you for your help and support.**


End file.
